Pt. 1: The "Crime"  »  Pt. 2: The Autopsy & The Trial  »  Pt. 3: Incarceration and the Path to Freedom

THE “CRIME”

Sept. 15, 1970
William “Bill” Mullins-Johnson is born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

April 1993
Bill moves in with brother Paul Johnson, his partner Kim and their three children: Jean, 6, Valin, 4, and John, 3.

June 25, 1993
Valin Johnson is running a fever.

June 26, 1993
Paul, Kim, Valin, and John go to the park. Paul is playing in a baseball tournament that day.

Kim asks Bill if he’ll make supper and look after the kids that night while she and Paul return to the park for an evening game.

Jean is staying over with a relative.

June 25, 1993 – 5:30 p.m.
Bill starts making supper: steak, salad and Kraft Dinner.

June 25, 1993 – 6 p.m.
Paul, Kim, Valin, and John return home for supper.

June 25, 1993 – 7 p.m.
Paul and Kim leave for the evening ball game, leaving John and Valin with Bill. Bill asks that they not be gone too long, as he’d like to go out with friends.

Bill and the kids settle in on the couch and watch TV.

June 25, 1993 – 7:30 p.m.
Valin is falling asleep on the couch, half an hour before her usual bedtime. Bill sends Valin to bed.

“She gave me a kiss and a hug the way she always did, told ... told me she loved me and I told her I loved her and she went off to bed herself, and left me and John downstairs.” – Bill's testimony, 1994.

June 25, 1993 – 8 p.m.
Bill puts John to bed. On his way down the hall he peeks in at Valin who is asleep. She’s wearing a zipped-up one-piece sleeper with teddy bears on it. He closes the door.

Bill has a coffee and a cigarette, watches TV and does the dishes.

June 25, 1993 – Approximately 9:30 p.m.
Kim returns home. She and Bill watch TV. Paul returns several hours later after going out for beers.

June 26, 1993 – Around 12 midnight
Bill goes out with friends, not returning until about 3 in the morning.

June 27, 1993 – 7 a.m.
A loud bang wakes up Paul and Kim. Paul rushes downstairs to find John has fallen from a chair in the kitchen

Kim gets up, looks in on Valin. She sees Valin has thrown up during the night.

Valin is on her stomach with her knees pulled towards her chest, her bum raised up off the bed. Her one-piece sleeper is still done up. There is vomit on Valin, the bed and the floor.

Valin is purple and blue, cold and stiff. Kim becomes hysterical, racing downstairs screaming “Valin’s dead! Valin’s dead!”

June 27, 1993 – 7:24 a.m.
Kim dials 9-1-1.

Paul and Bill enter Valin’s bedroom. Paul attempts CPR without success. He carries Valin downstairs and places her on a blanket on the living room floor.

June 27, 1993 – 7:32 a.m.
Ambulance attendants Nancy Scott and Robert Weir arrive at the Johnson house on Robin Street. They check for a pulse, but Valin is dead.

June 27, 1993 – 7:48 a.m.
A constable of the Sault Ste Marie Police Force arrives. He calls the coroner. He asks Paul about finding Valin, and considers the circumstances unusual.

June 27, 1993 – 8:05 a.m.
Investigators, Sergeant Robert Welton and Constable Jane Martynuck, arrive at the scene.

June 27, 1993 – 8:10 a.m.
Coroner, Dr David Crookston, arrives. He observes Valin and the scene. He takes her temperature: 27.7 degrees Celsius, 9.5 degrees below normal. He advises a post-mortem examination will be necessary. He does not measure room temperature.

June 27, 1993 – 8:52 a.m.
Valin’s body is taken to the Hospital.

June 27, 1993 – 8:58 a.m.
Cst. Martynuck and Sgt. Welton take statements from Paul and Bill.

June 27, 1993 – 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Police leave the house. Relatives from the Johnson’s large extended family pour in for support.

Pt. 1: The "Crime"  »  Pt. 2: The Autopsy & The Trial  »  Pt. 3: Incarceration and the Path to Freedom